Aaron Desjardins of Epping, 38, pleaded guilty last year to the killing of Amanda "Amy" Warf, ambushing her in her employer's parking lot and forcing her to drive to a concrete plant in Exeter.

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Police said he slit her throat, poured gasoline on her and set her ablaze.

Judge Marguerite Wageling called his actions selfish and depraved.

Prosecutors said Desjardins' plot to kill Warf dated back to 2011, when she left him.

Desjardins did not speaking during his appearance in Rockingham County Superior Court. He had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to hinder apprehension in the March 2013 killing.

His sister, Michele Corson of Skowhegan, Maine, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy charges.

According to Corson, Desjardin gave her this account after Warf was dead:

"He confronted his ex-wife, using a gun that Corson had brought from her father's house in Maine to scare her. He forced Warf into her car then sat behind her, wrapped a wire around her neck and told her to drive to the concrete plant in Exeter.

"Once inside the plant, Warf fought to get control of his knife, but he kept it and slit her throat before pouring the gas and setting her on fire."

Police said before he killed her, Desjardins asked Warf why she had left him and if he was still the beneficiary on a life insurance policy. In police documents, Desjardins also said his ex-wife was trying to take away their son.

Aaron Desjardins' current wife, Sarah Desjardins, is expected to face trial in October on a charge of accomplice to first-degree murder.

Family and friends of Warf have declined to comment until legal proceedings are complete.